Annunciator



Nov. 14, 1933. v DURBIN ET AL 1,935,262

ANNUNCIATOR I Filed Jan. 4, 1928 Patented Nov. 14, 1933 1,935,262 j QIIANNUNCIATOK I Vernon Durbin, Newton, and Randallv B. Baker,

Watertown, Massi, assignors to The Holtzer Cabot Electric Company, Roxbury, porationof Massachusetts J Mass., a cor- Application January 4, 192s. SerialNo. 244,534

-1ClainiQ-(Cl;177-329) The .present invention relates to an improvement in annunciators. I Y J Theiobjects of. the. invention are to produce an annunciator of high legibility and certainty of ac- 1 5 tion, inexpensive in construction, and of durability. To. the above. endsthepresent invention consists in the construction hereinafter'described and particularly defined in the claim.. I

In the. accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred form of .the invention, Fig. 1. is a perspective view'of an annunciator box'particularly intended for use inconnectionv with'elevators, embodying the invention; Fig. 2.is.a. perspective view of the glass plate in the front of the box; Fig. 3 isasectional plantaken on the plane 3.-,3, Fig. 1;Fig. .4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating theglass front and the floor. indicators-,,of.which .one is in position against the. glass showing on one side. of .the view thefront of the glass with the floor-indicating figure legible; Fig-5.is'asimilar View with nofloorl-de'signating indicator operated, showing the appearance of theglass onthe left whennofioor isdesi'gnated; Fig. 6 .is. anenlarged. view of the indicatorand the hood which '25 embraces the indicator disk; and Fig. .7 is a. view of an indicator taken. at right. angles approximately to the view shown in Fig.6.

-.The illustrated embodiment of. theinvention is described as follows: The box:10 is 'a' metal casting having anopeningllin' its front. This open-' and fDown, so that'these words are always legi-t Me. The figures indicating thefloors are not normally legible-because the inside of the box is Y dark. ;When, however, a white target is pressed againstthe'film behind one of these transparent figure areas,.the white target renders the figure legible. As shown inFig. 6,'when no target is in contact with the glass, the figures are invisible,

but when a target, as the target for the figure 4 1.5.0 is pressed against the glass, its white face shows through the transparent figure'opening, and, as

. shown in Fig. 4, the floor number 4 becomes visible.

The targets, consisting of disks 13, are covered 1 with a layer 14. of white plush 'or'velvet glued.

thereon. Obviously, when this target is pressed against the transparent portion of the glass, the figure becomes visible. Each targetis provided with a rod 15, by which the target is supported. The target rod consists of two parts, an aluminum portion 16, and a soft iron portion 17. The aluminum portion 16 is provided with a dowel 18, which is receivedwith a drive fit-in a hole bored in the end of. the iron portion 17 of the target rod 15. The front end 19 of the aluminum portion 16 of the target rod is reducedin size and is received ina hole in the arm 20, which arm is forced on to the reduced end 19. The extreme front end of the reduced portion 19 penetrates the target disk. 13, and is riveted therein at 22. Thecovering of the face of the target is preferably white by reason of its light reflecting excellence, but other contrasting colors may be used torender the characterareas legible. v p

The extreme end of the target arm 20' is roundv and received in a slot 24 in the hoodor shroud 25. The position of the hood is such that the. slot 24 is on one side, as the annunoiator is ordinarily, supported, and it acts to hold the target either in, retracted or advanced position. When the target is retracted; it occupies the 'position= shown in Fig. 6; when the target is ad-: vanced it occupies the position at the other end of the slot with the-face of the target incon-l tactwith the glass. 1 This curvedslot, therefore,

operates normally to hold the target, owing to its two inclined ends, either initsadvanced or retracted position. The open face of the hood is pressed against the glass, and it prevents light from obtaining access to the rear of the glass plate except to the-extent to which-light may "enter through the figure openings in the film.

Each target rod is supported in a double coil solenoid 26, the, rear coil.27 when energized acting to pull the target into its retracted position,

:and the front coil 28 when energized acting to move the target to its advanced position. These solenoids are mounted on the plate: 29, and as many solenoids are employed as there are floor numbers providedin the glass. On, the front of theplate are supported the hoods 25. one hood being provided for 7 each target.

'press, the plate 29 which carries the solenoids and hoods being supported upon four long screws 31 screwed into screw-threaded holes in the back of the front plate 30 of the. box, and be- 1 ing provided with springs 32 which are interposed between the heads of the screws 31 and the plate 29, so that the hoods are pressed with yielding pressure against the glass plate of the box.

It will be understood that the appearance of the box as illustrated in Fig. 1, does not correspond to its appearance as Viewed by the eye, as the glass, with the exception of the words Upfand Down which will appear white, will be black, or substantially black in appearance, and the several figures will be wholly invisible to an ordinary examination. When, however, any solenoid is energized toadvance a target, it will press the white face of the target against the film side of theglass, and the light entering through the figure opening will illuminate so much of the white'face of the target as is exposed through the figure opening in i the film, and thereby the portion of the target exposed through the figure opening will be visible, and white figures indicating the floors will exhibit themselves. So the normalappearance of the glass front plate of the box will be black, except for the words Up and Down which will be permanently white, and the floor figures will appear in white when the solenoid advances the floor target into contact with the film. So, in Figs. 4 and 5 the left hand side of the figure, which shows a par tial front elevation of the glass plate, will be shown in white instead of black in Fig. lgon the left hand side where the face of the glass is shown.

It is possible, but difflcultly possible, by seeking a particular position of the eye for viewing the front plate of the box from which the fioor figures in the plate may be dimly visible, even when ,all of the targets are in retracted position, but none of them will appear white, and great difliculty will be experienced in obtaining a position from which to be able to see such figures, the fact being that a photographic plate, viewed from the glass side against a dark background, shows the image on the film with great difficulty and then only dimly, so that this front plate is excellently well adapted by ordinary observation to exhibit a solid black face except when thetargets are pressed against the glass, so that illumination may flow through the glass to the target and thus enable the eye of the observer to see the figure.

When the target, however, is in contact with the glass, the illumination from outside renders the figures'clearly and distinctly'legible. The illegibility of the figures under ordinary circumstances, with the targets' retracted, is accentu ated by the target hoods, which prevent almost all'light from access to the target when it is in retracted position, except such as enters through the figure opening at the front, but the amount of such light entering the hood from the figure opening in the front plate is insufficient to illuminate the target in retracted position, so that it will be visible to the eye of the observer.

Atransparent glass front over a series of targets each bearing numerals would permit the illumination of all target-bearing numbers such that it would be diflicult to'distinguish between the targets which were pressed against the glass and those which were in retracted position. One feature of the invention, therefore, consists in forming the front plate of opaque material with character-shaped areas or openings therein or thereon acting to illuminate the target or render the characters legible when in indicating position in contact with the back of the plate. The characters may be on the plate or the targets.

Thefront plate of the annunciator is very convenientlymanufactured by making a drawing of the front plate in black and white of the size desired. From this drawing a photographic negative will be made exactly of the same size as the desired front plate of the box. A positive is made from the negative'by contact printing which, in turn, is used as the means of making as many further identical negatives as may be required. These negatives form the finished front plates for the box. a

The. electrical connections between the solenoids and the push buttons of the several floors and the restoring button on the car, may all be as is usual for the usual form of annunciator for use in elevators. v The invention may alsobeiused, of course, for making annunciators for general uses, or for special uses. Words may be substituted for fioor figures upon the front plate without any change being required in the targets or the remainder of the box mechanism.

A feature of the invention consists in the photographic front plate for an: annunciator box having normally invisible indicating openings adapted to be rendered visible by the application of a white or light colored material to the back of the plate by any suitable mechanism.

Other forms of plate are within the scope of the invention, viewed in its broader aspects. A transparent cover of glass or othermaterial may be used in addition, if desired. Generically considered, the invention contemplates the use of a plate having an opaque body, and a'rear member, one of such members'being provided with a contrasting character area, the arrangement being such that the'character iszlegible when the members are close together and illegible when separated. It also contemplates an opaque plate with indicating openings therethrough of less opacity, used in connection with means for applying light reflecting material to the back of the plate to cause visibility of the selected indication; 6

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

An annunciatorcomprising a solenoid, a target adapted to be moved axially by the solenoid, a lateral projection on the target, and a guide member at the side of the target, the guide member being provided with a slot to receive the projection, the slot comprising two portions downwardly inclined toward its ends to hold the target in either its retracted or its'advanced position.

' VERNON DURBIN. RANDALL B. BAKER. 

